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Little Shoes
(1917) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by Arthur Berthelet
Cast: Henry B. Walthall [David Noel], Mary Charleson [Rosiland Arloff], Mary McAlister (Mary McAllister) [Rosiland Arloff, at age 10], Ullrich Haupt [Vasili Arloff], Patrick Calhoun [Abel], Victor Benoit [Valdez], Bowd M. Turner (Bowditch M. Turner) [Benito], Jack Paul
Essanay Film Manufacturing Company production; distributed by K-E-S-E Service. / Scenario by Edward T. Lowe Jr., from the novel The House of the Little Shoes by Eleanor M. Ingram. / © 13 January 1917 by Essanay Film Manufacturing Company [LP9985]. Released 15 January 1917. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was purchased [?] in March 1919? and rereleased in the USA on State Rights basis by Victor Kremer Film Features, Incorporated, in 1919.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Rosiland, whose papa is rich, first meets David Noel when she is about 10 years old. He is a shivering little beggar boy who is seeking the scant warmth emitted from a sidewalk grating at her home. Rosiland, with childish generosity and sympathy, takes off her shoes and gives them to the beggar boy. Those little shoes were David Noel’s guiding light. They spurred ambition in him, the ambition to become rich and then make the pretty little donor his wife. Years pass; the two children see each other no more, and David wins the first step towards his ambition’s goal. He becomes rich in Costa Rica. Then he returns to the great city wherein dwelt the girl of the little shoes to achieve the final step. Time has wrought a great change in Rosiland’s life: her papa has lost his wealth and she, now grown, faces destitution. Thus David, finding her at last, is enabled to repay twofold the gift of the little shoes. She wins him and his fortune.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 3 February 1917, page ?] “The House of the Little Shoes” appeared as a serial in Munsey’s Magazine and created a large following of readers. Essanay very appropriately clipped the title, as seen above, and the adaptation by Edward T. Lowe, Jr., has retained for the screen all the gist of the printed story. The production is in five reels. Director Berthelet has given the filmed story very appropriate settings, some of them sumptuous and others squalid, as the occasion demands. Had he made the little gamin, David Noel, appear with a dirty face, instead of the nice dean one we see him wear as he emerges from the human kennel that he calls home, the spectator would be still more convinced of his real type. The acting of little Mary V. McAlister as Rosalind, and little Jack Paul as David Noel, when these characters were children, will appeal to everyone who sees them. Later on, when the characters become grownups, Henry B. Walthall appears as David and Mary Charleson as Rosalind. Mr. Walthall’s David Noel is the creation of an artist. It shows fine imagination and a rare gift of expression. The self-made man, who has risen from the New York gutter to become the leader in a movement that accomplishes the independence of a new republic in South America, cannot be expected to become also the polished gentleman. Hence his rudeness and his almost unpardonable offense in doubting the truthfulness of Rosalind Arloff, when she denies that she is either a professional dancer or engaged on the stage, comes near ruining the dearest quest of his life. And Mr. Walthall’s David Noel is made to express the doubt brutally, both in look and word. But the true heart of Mr. Walthall’s David is made to show itself pure as gold, when at the feet of Rosalind he again becomes the beggar boy with a shivering heart. Mary Charleson’s Rosalind is another fine characterization. When poverty has come to her father and herself Rosalind is still the gentlewoman, proud of her independence, and devoted to her bedridden parent. The slight put upon her by David’s questioning of her truthfulness is not forgiven, even when he proves her identity. In the scene where she dismisses him in a storm of anger, Miss Charleson’s Rosalind reveals the bitterness of the shock to her gentle refinement. An instant afterward, when David lies unconscious at the foot of the stairs, down which he has fallen, her woman’s heart melts in tenderness and she kisses him as love and anxiety take possession. Vasilie Orloff and Abel are well acted by W.K. Haupt and Patrick Calhoun. The photography is fully up to Essanay’s high standard.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 5 February 2024.
References: Website-AFI; Website-ASFFDb; Website-IMDb.
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